Requirements to startup a CIC company (community interest company)

Requirements to startup a CIC company (community interest company): the CICs (community interest companies) are on the rise and Coddan can help you join more than 10,000 community interest companies on the Regulator's approved list. About one in 200 new companies registered last year were CICs and they can vary from small enterprises run from home to multimillion pound organisations employing thousands. They are sometimes call mutuals or social enterprises. Community interest companiess were designed to help individuals form a simple, legal entity that protects them from liability and allows them to help a specific community issue.

The CIC legislation was enshrined into law under the Companies Act 2006. There are a number of requirements, including a memorandum of association, a name, details of the directors and a decision on whether the company will be limited by shares or guarantees. To correctly form a CIC (community interest company) you must also prove that it will benefit the community and it must have clearly defined aims. It must also have clearly defined activities and these need to be prepared carefully as this is a real sticking point for the Regulator.

A declaration of compliance has to be signed by every director; with this, you commit to helping the community and not being a political party (it should also clearly state what will happen to profits). When you establish a CIC (community interest company) you can pay directors and staff salaries with much fewer restrictions than a full-blown charity, but the asset lock ensures that assets and profits are put to good use for the community project the community interest company was set up to support.

There is a lot of paperwork when you start up a CIC company (community interest company) and a specific application procedure that you should follow to the letter if you want to be sure of acceptance. Of course, you can do it yourself, but it pays to enlist the services of a professional CIC business registration agent like Coddan as we file applications every day and will not be caught out.

We can take all the red tape off your hands and ensure that your community interest company is registering and running as fast as possible. So if you have a community project you want to support, get in touch with us today and let us deal with your CIC (community interest companies) formation.